Chapter 284 Give up or continue
"Ga..."
A fat colorful duck was full and was walking unsteadily on the ground. Although there were still a large number of locusts flying around in the sky, it was powerless to do anything.
The other colorful ducks also ate their fill one after another. Even though some ducks could not swallow any more, they still had a locust in their mouths. The locust's legs moved from time to time, so it was obvious that they were not dead yet.
The pheasants and unicorns did not eat too much because they ate slowly.
But they are no longer so hungry that they only eat those locusts that look more delicious.
"Chief, I found a problem." Da Jiao walked to Jiang Xuan.
"What's the problem?"
Jiang Xuan was in a bad mood as he looked at the sky full of locusts that were still swarming and frantically eating the leaves.
Big Horn said: "Whether it is the colorful duck, the seven-colored pheasant, the unicorn, or even the giant frogs of the frog tribe, when they eat locusts, they will choose green locusts to eat. They will not touch the brown locusts, and will even stay away from them if they see them."
After Da Jiao said this, Jiang Xuan took a closer look and found that it was indeed the case.
Almost all the animals brought here only eat the green locusts, and they avoid the yellowish locusts as if they were the plague and would not even approach them.
It's just that because there are so many locusts, most people don't notice this problem.
Why is this happening?
Jiang Xuan was very surprised. Both brown and green locusts were locusts. Could it be that the green locusts were tastier? At this moment, Da Jiao said, "I think the brown locusts might be poisonous."
"poisonous?"
"That's right. Animals are naturally able to distinguish what is edible and what is not. Generally speaking, most of the things they don't eat or even actively avoid are poisonous."
After Da Jiao's reminder, Jiang Xuan suddenly remembered some information about locust plagues that he had read in his previous life.
Locusts are non-toxic when they do not gather together. Various birds will prey on them, and the population is relatively balanced.
Once locusts gather in large numbers, they will activate their group defense mechanism, continue to mutate, and produce moderately toxic benzonitrile in their bodies.
This toxin emits a peculiar smell, and birds will stay away from it when they smell it.
What's even more terrifying is that when a locust swarm is attacked and threatened, they will immediately convert benzonitrile into highly toxic hydrogen cyanide.
Hydrogen cyanide is a highly toxic substance that can be fatal if ingested.
Therefore, once locusts gather in large numbers, almost no natural enemies will approach them and restrict their reproduction.
A swarm of locusts without natural enemies will become larger and larger, eventually turning into a terrible disaster.
The locusts in front of Jiang Xuan are locusts that have gathered in large numbers.
Moreover, these locusts are under attack and threat, which means that they may already contain highly toxic substances in their bodies.
But there are always exceptions.
The locust swarm is so large that it is impossible for all of them to be highly poisonous.
Those locusts with brightly colored bodies and strong aggressiveness are naturally inedible, but those green locusts are actually still in the larval stage, are non-toxic, and can be eaten.
The poultry brought by the Vine Tribe and the giant frogs of the Frog Tribe all prey on green locusts.
Jiang Xuan frowned and said, "I forgot that the locusts that cause a disaster are poisonous. It seems that it is impossible to eliminate these locusts by eating them."
"Chief, what should we do then?"
"Yes, there are too many locusts."
Huo Meng, the leader of the Frog Tribe, also came over, looking very worried.
Although the frog tribe developed rapidly, when it migrated to the southern wilderness, its population was only about 200, and there were only dozens of giant frogs left.
In the past two years, the frog tribe has attracted a large number of tourists, and the population is only about five or six hundred. However, the giant frogs reproduce very quickly, and the number of adult giant frogs has reached thousands.
Even so, Huo Meng felt a sense of fear when facing the overwhelming swarms of locusts.
Because giant frogs are simply not enough to resist so many locusts, and the Frog Tribe learned planting from the Vine Tribe and has just tasted some sweetness.
If these locusts are allowed to continue advancing, the Frog Tribe’s crops will certainly be lost.
Jiang Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "Don't worry, there is always a solution to the problem, we just haven't found it yet."
Huo Meng was a little helpless, but he really couldn't think of any good solution, so he could only continue to command the giant frogs and frog tribe warriors to kill the locusts.
On the third day, although the Vine Tribe and the Frog Tribe tried their best to kill the locusts, their number could not be controlled at all, and another area of forest was eaten up.
On the fourth day, the Mountain Turtle Tribe and the Thorny Fly Tribe arrived and joined the locust-killing operation. However, since the Mountain Turtle Tribe and the Thorny Fly Tribe did not eat locusts, they could only rely on manpower to capture them, which was extremely inefficient.
On the fifth day, things took a turn for the better because the Sparrow Tribe arrived and brought a large number of birds with them.
These birds are much better at dealing with locusts than other animals.
They go around the back of the locust swarm and specifically prey on the locust larvae that have not yet changed color, and they are very efficient.
On the sixth day, the Rhinoceros Beetles also arrived, but those Rhinoceros Beetles did not eat locusts, they just helped to catch them.
As for the Giant Claw Tribe, because it was too far away from here, Jiang Xuan did not send anyone to call them over for help.
Thanks to the efforts of the six tribes and the surrounding small tribes, the advance of the locusts was greatly slowed down, but that was all.
Because there are so many locusts, and the locusts from the northwest are still flying here in an endless stream.
Compared with the huge locust swarm, the few locusts they killed were nothing.
Moreover, when the time came to the seventh day, something even more terrifying happened.
The locust swarm continued to mutate, and gradually a large number of giant black and red locusts appeared! Unlike the previous locusts, the black and red locusts were highly poisonous from the larval stage. Birds would fly away immediately when they saw them, as if avoiding the plague.
Moreover, these locusts are several times larger than ordinary locusts. When they grow up, they even dare to actively attack birds. They are extremely ferocious and crazy.
Seeing the locust swarm growing larger and larger, the number of mutated poisonous locusts increasing, and the speed of devouring the forest increasing, the members of several tribes finally began to despair.
In fact, except for the Teng tribe, other tribes did not have much food reserves. They could not spend all their time killing locusts, or they would starve to death.
Although locusts that have not changed color can be eaten after being roasted, they cannot be used as a staple food and are not filling. Warriors from several tribes vomited after eating them and felt nauseous at the sight of locusts.
On the tenth day, the leader of the One-Horned Tribe found Jiang Xuan first and tactfully told him that he had to go back, otherwise his fellow tribesmen would starve to death.
Jiang Xuan had no way to deal with this. After all, the Unicorn Tribe was not a subordinate tribe of the Vine Tribe. They just came here to help. It was already good enough that they could hold out for so many days.
After the Unicorn Tribe left, the Sparrow Tribe held out for a few days, but could no longer hold on. Their birds were attacked crazily by the mutated locusts, resulting in a lot of losses.
Soon, the Que tribe also left.
Before leaving, the leader of the Que tribe even advised Jiang Xuan: "Chief Xuan, give up. The more you fight these locusts, the more they will grow and the more powerful they will become. It is impossible to deal with them."
Jiang Xuan shook his head and said, "Even if we give up now, it won't be long before the locusts eat their way to our territory. By then, the forest will be eaten up and we won't be able to escape."
The leader of the Que tribe opened his mouth but had nothing to say, because what Jiang Xuan said was the truth. He couldn't possibly persuade the Teng tribe to migrate, right?
So, the leader of the Que tribe said nothing and left with his warriors.
After the One-Horned Tribe and the Sparrow Tribe left, it became even harder for the remaining tribes to hold on, and the constantly mutating locusts made it impossible for them to withstand it.
Is it really that we can only give up and let these locusts eat up the forest? The power was out, so I used my phone to code in the morning. The speed was shockingly slow.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
